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61 Comments
- Maxtrosity, on 10/12/2007, -16/+102stop using $ for S, welcome to 2006
- ToriaURU, on 10/12/2007, -2/+50Great idea and well done to him. May the EFF benefit and help keep our digital rights at the forefront.
- martinjester, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Direct link to auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160068144458 - jacobmiller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21@milambyr
http://www.eff.org/about/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation
wow, that was hard. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20http://www.*****.com
- Eldorian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16But without the EFF someday we may find ourselves not knowing about or being able to talk about the sick kids/poor nations as the government/corporations tighten control over what we see and hear.
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Personally I'd keep it and install Edgy Eft (or whatever latest Linux distro is due out soon) on it... then review that instead.
- Waterispoison, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Well then hurry up and sell you computer! Those kids need the money!
- Geekbeard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7A few thousand bucks is a speck of ***** in a cesspool compared to what's needed for poor nations. Of course, there are some economists who say that aid is bad for poor countries and what these countries really could use is non-corrupt government and the nationalization of some industries so everyone can benefit. Of course, the IMF and the World Bank screw over any poor country that tries to do this.
Um... back to the article! - deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I don't think what MS did was wrong but it's a classic example of reputation proceeding opinion. Microsoft has the reputation of being shady and lacking ethics so of course this move is seen as a bribe for good PR. If Apple did it people would be praising them for "innovative marketing" But that being said, Microsoft did this to themselves. They have to understand that anything they do is judged under the shadow of their anti-competitive behaviors of the past. I think they've mostly cleaned up their act but I also believe there are still people inside the company, at high levels, who yearn to return to the "Windows ain't done till Lotus-1-2-3 don't run" days. I for one will never trust them. I may use some of their products but I will always be suspicious of their true motives.
- wastern, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13>>>bravo. that's gotta get Micro$oft's panties in a bunch.
i was outsourced tech support for M$ Games Studios. when the sent our jobs to India, we all got copies of Windows XP.
yeah. i sold that on ebay too :D
So it went something like, "hey, you're fired and we are giving your job to people that will piss off all our customers but do it for 1/4 the price. Good luck with the job hunt, here is a copy of XP you probably already have and could have bought as an employee for $39. Have a nice life"
That was supposed to make you feel better? What a bunch of ass holes. haha - laughingsquid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There seems to be quite a bit of misinformation here regarding my "agreement" with Microsoft (there wasn't any) regarding what I can do with the laptop. I've updated my blog post with the following:
As I mentioned in my original post on the laptop, the only communication I received about this was an email from Edelman. The email stated that Microsoft was sending me a "present" with "no strings attached" (those were the exact words used in the email). They did not include any instructions at all regarding what to do with the laptop. Also, I did not receive the same email as the other bloggers, including the follow-up email that was sent by Microsoft to Marshall Kirkpatrick asking him to return or give away the laptop. I have asked Edelman for an explanation regarding this inconstancy, but have not yet received one. So just to be clear, I was never sent any kind of instructions on what to do with the laptop and I did not sign anything, including an NDA. - georgemoore13, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8google is your friend, learn how to use it.
http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=EFF&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
EDIT: beaten by jacobmiller - BrainInAJar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'd have gone with the FSF, even though I don't agree with them most of the time just to piss Microsoft off
- Muncher, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7@tablecloth007
That's what she said. :P - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Marketing means presenting your product in a way that emphasizes its qualities. Given free machines away to those who write the articles is bribery. Doesn't matter if its common, there are many things that are common and not entirely desirable. Fractional reserve banking for one is still forgery and embezzlement even if every central banking cartel on the planet is built on it.
- meltingrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3While I do agree with your statement. I believe the EFF was a very good donation considering that with Vista, Microsoft showed that media corporations matter more than the consumer's rights when it comes to digital media.
- dcharti, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Does anyone else find it amusingly ironic that - in light of Vista's DRM controversy - he's giving the proceeds to the EFF?
- piwy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3ms never said loan at first. they said they were gifts and had no strings attached. The comments about having to either give it away or return it were only made after people lit a fire up under their asses. Since they don't plan on keeping the money anyways i doubt anyone is gonna stir a fuss about the auction.
- ICSU, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Apple fan-boys are as pathetic as any other.
Apple is also a big corporation that is here to profit. There is nothing wrong with that as long as what they do is legal (which doesn't seem to be the case either), but don't act like the company is here to save the world. - mrobbins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Hang out at the local internet cafe. As soon as the babes see that Ferrari horse logo on your laptop they will be all over you.
- totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great idea :)
- Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If we have 2 shirts and gave one to someone who needed it, THEN you start to breed an attitude that will remove poverty.
- dtfinch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3MS said to return the laptops or give them away.
- cvrefugee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Looks gay? Looks pretty slick to me. I'm not sure if the carbon fiber is real or not, but it still looks cool.
- info, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Bidding has now topped $20,000...
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=160068144458
;-) - piwy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This would have been seen in a totally different light if only they didn;t state that the laptops were "free" and "no strings attached"
- khag7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1guess: 4200
- macewan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is going to be interesting to see how they spin their way out of the bad PR of this whole thing.
=) - HRF1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'd keep it.
- wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm curious if he isn't breaking some kind of NDA or agreement by auctioning. But, since it is for charity, maybe things are different. Current high bid is $1400; I'm guessing this is gonna go for some serious coin before it's all over; at least $3000.
- hrlori, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What the hell does blogging have to do with Ebay? It's an auction for a computer. The specs are there. The bidding is there. And more information can be found by clicking the link. What more does it need?
And why do you feel the need make the same comment twice? - shuffle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Let me guess... you're single right?
- TheFantasyGM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Kudos to you for finding a win/win solution. Their is clearly a ton of envy out there about the select recipients. It seems you've been as blunt and upfront about how this went down as any of the ones I've read. I don't know the EFF from the FF, but it sounds like you found a charity with which you share a cause. Picking a viable charity can be a crapshoot, so I completely agree about giving to one where you can see it making a difference in their cause (and I'm assuming your community). Maybe the next move will be to rally all the bloggers to donate the machines to high schools in their community. When in this conundrum, I always ask, "What would Bill do?".
- cquinnd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2But not sell them.
- zang74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At the very least, it's sketchy marketing. Were they to do this with more established journalists, it would no doubt be considered conflict of interest for said journalists to then write about Vista. If Microsoft weren't involved, that might be a whole other story.
I work in marketing, and everything done is done to sway the customer, but if it gets to the point where you need to sway the reviewer then you're doing damage control. Bloggers would have to be pretty naive not to realize that the gifts weren't given just out of the goodness of their hearts.
A product should be able to stand on it's own merits, I say. This isn't necessarily bribery yet, but it is pretty lame. - flag564, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3If it was Apple, all of these guys bitching about it would be saying how much they wished they got one.
Hypocrites to the man. - piwy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the EFF's community is your community ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation - diordna, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For those who wants to keep the Ferrari's, by the time you finish reviewing, new set of patches will come your way. Continue review, If you think you are done by this time, you are wrong, service pack one will be released, which will crash your Ferrari and if your had your air bag (Apple notebook) you can then return the thrashed Ferrari to M$.
- ekai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The laptop should come with the complete Michael Crook fake DMCA Takedown Notice pdf collection. Order now, and we'll throw in fair use pictures of Crook that you can post to generate your very own fake DMCA takedown from Crook himself! Not only that, if you act now, you'll get the complete collection of Fark photoshopped Michael Crook photos to use for birthday gifts or stocking stuffers next Christmas.
- punchkick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Has anyone else noticed that the laptops are disgusting looking? I would have sold it just because it is not an Apple. If Microsoft really wanted to stir things up they should have sent out PowerBooks with Vista loaded through Bootcamp.
- zang74, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wow, yet again you bring up Apple in a topic for a story that has nil to do with them.
- stevebor1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wow. how cool you must be. what a rebel.
- yacks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0but perhaps selling it and then giving away the proceeds is the loophole around it.
- Spire3660, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The EFF helps ensure the digital freedoms that may one day provide a cure for diseases that plague those countries, or inventions that might otherwise be locked behind patents. What if the food replicator was invented, allowing a cheap and easy way to create food for millions using open source tools, and freedoms. Would you still say sick/poor kids>EFF? The EFF fights to make sure that we can have freedom of technology, and that technology may someday save the entire planet.
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Given that MS has made clear they are on loan and not gifts, their listing on eBay will certainly be pulled since they cannot sell something they don't own.
- vicious1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@GMorgan:
how is it bribery, exactly?
are you using your extraordinary gift of clairvoyance to look into the future and see bloggers that got the machine giving 100% triple extra awesome reviews for windows vista?
'cause if you are, i'd put my abilities to better use. - mlorimer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3For being a top blogger, that eBay auction sure does suck. I was surprised at the lack of information. It has a link to his blog I guess. The auction doesn't have any real substance though. If I would have found this first on eBay instead of on digg, I would have said the dude was either a n00b or trying to rip somebody off (or both).
- jmaynardg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Geekbeard:
"A few thousand bucks is a speck of ***** in a cesspool compared to what's needed for poor nations."
Ummmm. Yeah. A speck of ***** in a cesspool ... filled with war torn, starving, children throughout the world. I sense a clash of metaphors here... - jaba1337, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Spellcheck?
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